Tag Archives: Tao

Through the darkening of the light, remain steady…– Photo by Jan Ketchel

On the day of the assassination of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, I consulted the I Ching for its perspective on it, as well as on the conflagration in Australia. Hexagram #63, After Completion, moving line in the fifth place, was my answer. The future of this constellation is hexagram #36, Darkening of the Light.

Completion, for the I Ching, marks the climax or culmination of a cycle that must, alas, begin anew. Think of the highpoint of the lunar cycle, the full moon. Once fullness is reached the light begins immediately to wane, as a new cycle begins. The events of January 3, 2020 mark the completion of a cycle; we are in a whole new era now.

Both the dramatic actions of nature, in its fires, and of human nature, in its decision to assassinate, mark the completion of a dream. We awaken now to a new dream. The moving line in the fifth place addresses the first order of business for that new dream: What attitude will prevail now?

This moving line in the fifth place is an action line that typically overreacts or takes action of its own accord when it is actually most appropriate to be patient, sober, and humble. This is an instance of the ego pushing the river, when what is called for is going with the flow. Here ego acts on its own willfulness, rather than assuming its proper place, as General to the intent of the High Self/Soul.

Though history does tend to repeat itself, the I Ching holds that we are not absolute victims of our habits, tendencies, and proclivities. The moving line in the fifth place depicts the usual course of history, history repeating itself. With that outcome in mind, it forecasts Darkening of the Light for the future, which is a time when shadow forces predominate, and the forces of light retreat, for safekeeping.

Within the hologram of every individual is the collective dream we are all confronted with and share, in some way, within ourselves. Thus, the fires of nature rage in the anxieties and mounting passions we all experience within our individual psyches and lives. As well, we all must contend with our ego selves that seek immediate relief and solution from the tension.

All of us must face the clouded perception brought about by the Darkening of the Light, as special interest entities try to steal our attention, energy, and allegiance to support their intent for this new dream. We truly are in a waking dream that has unleashed all manner of fantastic characters.

Keep it simple; address the dream of your individual life. Own every character that you are drawn to, or are afraid of, in the world. Find that character in the self, particularly the emperor with no clothes. Lead that character, not censoriously but definitely, into the light. Face the truth, and let it set you free through right action, action in alignment with the Tao.

For those characters that have taken up residence within but truly don’t belong there, vote them out. Send them off with compassion that they might find their own way home to wholeness.

And then, regardless of the duration of the darkness, guard your guiding light, as we embark upon A New Era.

Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year. At a certain level they are all interchangeable synonyms of the same event: return of the light. These events symbolize bringing forth new life, and in one form or another the human species is transported, by such events, to the experience of awe. These events create a natural bridge to the magical side of life.

The polar opposite of awe, and the human being’s greatest achievement, has been its ability to fixate upon reason, the main pillar of modern civilization. Reason breaks down the world into units that defy awe. With pure reason there’s no such thing as magic. Without magic, however, humanity loses its soul. Modern humans are truly beings in search of their soul.

The appeal of modern charismatic world leaders is their messianic capacity to channel awe. Anger that knows no limits is one ticket to infinity. The appeal of the energetic thrill of the shrill has swept the world. Reason shrinks in its ability to shield one from the draw of such passion. Even the most reasonable beings are unwittingly drawn into the madness of their passionate defense of reason.

Starved for immersion in the ocean of awe, humanity is currently gripped in a tidal wave of emotion. Tidal waves are unstoppable forces of nature, but, like wildfires that require fresh wood to continue their passionate burn, their time is truly limited, though there may be much destruction in the interim. All things do pass.

Currently, reason has become the fuel of awe. The irrational dominates the rational, the time of darkening of the light. In the time of darkening of the light, the guidance is to shield and tend the small candlelight of reason in the safe cave of the heart. In the time of the return of the light, the guidance is to be patient; the return of the light is inevitable.

The magic of this moment is awe inspired by the light of consciousness. Reason and awe needn’t be strange bedfellows. We are in an evolutionary advance now, charged to become more fully our magical energetic selves, with the light of consciousness as our guiding light, charged to explore beyond the limits of reason, yet with reason at our side.

May reason embark upon the dance of true fulfillment with us all. May awe be navigated by reason. Wishing all a safe, ecstatic, and fulfilling return of the light.

The coming of night affords a natural break in continuity…– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Most simply defined, the quality of our mental health reflects the degree of continuity we can maintain as our known selves, the familiar, separate human beings that we are. Familiarity rests upon a predictable world and a predictable self that interacts with that world. When our normal expectations of ourselves and the world are disrupted, our security and sanity are threatened, as reflected in psychiatric symptoms in response to this break in continuity.

Our notion of ourselves as separate beings traces back to the birth of consciousness, or the coming online of our ego. In biblical terms, this was the moment we were separated from the Garden of undifferentiated wholeness, Eden, and were cast into the world as separate, thinking beings, capable of our own decision making.

Alienated from our true energetic oneness with everything, where knowledge of what was right to do came as unthinking knowing—what the Shamans of Ancient Mexico call silent knowledge—our orphaned separate selves were challenged to find a way to successfully navigate life.

Thus began our history as thinking human beings, alienated from our original connection to direct silent knowledge. Knowledge obtained through thinking is grounded in rational cause and effect, observation and interpretation. Direct knowledge is channeled from the source through our greater energetic self, whom we lived more fully and intimately before the fall.

Ego, as a defined separate self, creates boundaries to ensure its unique integrity. These boundaries have the secondary effect of severing the ego’s connection to its greater energetic self, which lacks such defined boundaries. As a separate self, ego is constantly focused on its own importance as the means to maintain its integrity as a functional unit.

Nonetheless, the cynic in all of us sees through the falseness and limitations of the persona, or mask, that ego presents to the world. Underneath it all, ego is a fragile, inadequate part of the self, trying to hold its own in the world. Hence, its constant obsession with self-worth, self-esteem, and the positive attention of others, in order to bolster its fragile existence.

Our evolutionary destiny is driving us to regain our wholeness, the energetic self we left in the garden. To get there, we must break from our obsession with maintaining the self-important defense of our ego as a superior separate entity. In essence, we are all being called now to break the continuity of our ego’s stand as the one and only self.

Trauma could be defined as a break in the ego’s continuity, which forces it to confront the irrationality of power exercised beyond a rational world. Trauma levels ego; ego is completely humbled by a rupture that transcends its ability to assimilate. Lucky are those who have had the opportunity that trauma affords! And yet, we are all confronting the trauma of now!

The full assimilation of traumatic experience requires fluidity, the ability to go with the flow of what is or was, not the limits of what the ego expects the world to be. Healing, for the ego, requires an expanded ability to acknowledge power and forces that exist beyond its rational expectations.

Achievement of this expanded ego state is fundamental to ego discovering its true home, as an energetic being, first, and as a separate solid being, second. Ego is then positioned to accompany its energetic foundation on journeys in this world, and beyond, with access to the full library of silent knowledge.

Our time might be defined as a major break in continuity. Our world leaders are tricksters, who are unapologetically rupturing our expectations, throwing us into the thrill and the chaos of a tidal wave of unpredictability. From this perspective, they function like teacher shamans, recklessly opening a door, exposing us to our fuller energetic reality.

At the same time, they threaten the stability of mental health, which is dependent on a predictable world. And we see the casualties of this break in continuity in the shootings that abound daily. We are confronted with a collective PTSD of a world ego under fire. Nonetheless, healing can only be achieved by ego achieving the fluidity needed to navigate the greater energetic world that transcends rationality.

Our trickster leaders, ironically, mirror our greatest stumbling block to achieving that needed fluidity: self-importance. In fact, world leadership boldly embodies its separatist self-important superiority, ego’s greatest defense. We could say, that our leaders both deliver the punch and mirror the culprit that must be transcended if our ego is to truly find its way back to the garden of its energetic oneness with everything.

We have no choice now but to ride this train of break in continuity, as that train has already left the station without brakes. Change the metaphor, to that of the Tao, of the river that flows. Rather than try to push the river, as the ego used to do, become a riverwalker, one who knowingly walks with the flow.

Settle into the calmness of your own heart center and rest assured that it will carry you forward with sobriety, goodness, and sweetness; that its steady beat will keep you attuned to the steady beat of nature all around you, and that it will guide you well. No matter where you live, no matter your circumstances, you have access to this inner resource. This is the real nature you seek, the natural energy of loving kindness that permeates everything, that flows through the universe and into you too. Let your knowing heart be calm, and let yourself be assured that you are safe within yourself, with your knowing heart as your guide, your teacher, your friend. The great heart of the universe, to which you all belong, beats for all. As within, so without.

Remain upon your path of change, and your path of heart, no matter what comes to distract you, to test you, to tease you. Your commitment to yourself, to your wholeness, body and spirit, is of utmost importance, even though there are many other important things to consider. If you are not okay, the world is not okay. That’s the bottom line. If you are unstable the world is unstable, for you and your energy effect everything around you. It’s good to remember this. When you are sad and depressed, sadness and depression find you. When you are in a state of joy and elation, notice how joy and elation naturally greet you in return. Find balance and equilibrium within yourself and discover that there is balance and equilibrium in the world outside of you too. Find peace within and discover that it naturally surrounds you wherever you roam. Life meets you where you are. If you want change, make it happen. All power lies within. Take that first step, and then another, and another. It all begins with you.